(4 of 4)
So far, civility and generosity have characterized the Czechoslovak revolt, which has seemed more methodical and less reactive than the spontaneous actions in East Germany. But Prague may yet follow a path that could impede reconstruction. While Havel has promised the party there will be no purges, cries for retribution began to be heard last week, resulting in the party's expelling former party leader Milos Jakes and former Prague party boss Miroslav Stepan. There are also continued signs of fragmentation within the opposition, as is happening in East Germany. But as yet, Havel continues to exert a moral authority that seems to be holding the disparate forces together.
Shrewdly, the Civic Forum is taking steps to align itself with sectors of the military. Havel announced the formation of the Military Forum, a group within the armed forces that is calling for a variety of reforms, including a shortening of military service from two years to 18 months. The Civic Forum exerted its power at the state level by forcing the resignation of the cabinet in the dominant Czech republic and the appointment of a new body that ceded nine of the 17 ministerial posts to non-Communists. Three days later, the government of the Slovak republic also quit.
Only a gambler would wager on where the revolutions in East Germany and Czechoslovakia will end. Negotiations and cool heads may ultimately prevail, allowing the Communist Party to help negotiate a future that will result in multiparty systems along the lines of those evolving in Hungary and Poland. Conversely, dissent could give way to anarchy that would trigger a military crackdown. The current challenge for opposition forces in both countries is to strike a delicate balance between keeping pressure on the Communists for new reforms and not demanding so much so fast that chaos ensues and crushes the spirit of progress not only in Eastern Europe but in the Soviet Union as well.